#Motivation For Men #23: “Lead Us Not” Part 2

The circumstances bringing Lot and his family to this point were nothing short of horrific, and probably impossible to fully appreciate without experiencing war or natural disaster. In a short period of time, Lot’s home had been attacked by a gang of violent sexual perverts, and Lot’s family had been forced to flee for their lives just before his adopted hometown of Sodom was destroyed, with Lot’s wife and his daughters’ fiancés dying in the process. This left Lot and his two daughters as the only survivors and refugees from God’s judgment, and they were overcome with grief and shock.

Since Lot delayed in reintegrating his family into society, Lot’s daughters were afraid that their opportunity to bear children and preserve the family was slipping away, so they hatched a plan to take turns getting their father drunk and having sex with him so they could each conceive. Lot’s daughters did this out of a sense of maternal duty, as sex with one’s drunken father could hardly have been a pleasurable prospect. The use of wine to overcome Lot’s inhibitions indicates that Lot almost certainly would have refused if he had been propositioned by his daughters outright.

While we would never expect to find ourselves in an extreme situation like this one, Lot’s story brings up the issue of vulnerability, which affects us all. There are going to be times in our lives when circumstances such as loss, separation, pressure, stress or strife make us emotionally vulnerable and more susceptible to sexual temptation. There may also be times that women in our lives other than our spouses may themselves be more vulnerable or even be under the influence as Lot was, making them more “available” than they should be. Indeed the epidemic of “date rape” and the use of drugs or alcohol to facilitate it shows how big a problem the exploitation of vulnerability is.

How do we deal with vulnerability to keep it from becoming a stumbling block?

1. We should be aware of our own vulnerability and have our spiritual guard up to protect ourselves from falling into sin.

2. We should be aware of the vulnerability of the women around us and guard our hearts to ensure we don’t take advantage of them.

3. We should guard our own hearts to resist the temptation to become exploiters ourselves, whether inside or outside of marriage.

God intended for our sexuality to be covenantal rather than exploitive. Let us commit ourselves to doing things God’s way.